1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to display card holders, and more particularly proposes the construction of a display card holder adapted for use in bulletin boards, as in arrival and departure boards for airlines, and characterized by a display card housing having a retaining track for receiving a linear printed, painted, embossed, or engraved display card element, a locking lever having a stop-face extending through an aperture in the base member, which head is resiliently mounted and abuts against and arrests lateral motion of the display card element, so as to detachably secure the display card in the retaining track. A feature of the invention is that its separate elements may be assembled or removed from the holder without the use of hand tools or fasteners.
Bulletin boards, display easels, and directional signs may use removable inserts to facilitate changing the sign message. Since such inserts must be readily installed and removed, they are subject to tampering and vandelism. Permanent mounting methods, such as screws, rivets, and adhesives defeat the feature of ready revision.
This invention is of a locking device which can be installed in a track for retaining sign elements, which is easily installed, latched or disengaged from the display carrier without tools, and which, in the latched position, will secure the sign elements from displacement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art display card holders have been used in such applications as a license plate holder, U.S. Pat. No. 1,573,443, issued to F. Haller, Feb. 16, 1926; check holders for mine cards, U.S. Pat. No. 1,953,707, issued to R. B. French, Apr. 3, 1934, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,628,525, issued May 10, 1927 to C. E. Bell; display card holder, U.S. Pat. No. 1,523,778, issued Sept. 15, 1931 to L. Bailey; and a picture frame for handbags, U.S. Pat. No. 2,302,560, issued Nov. 17, 1942 to S. Latora.
These prior art devices required special notching, cams, magnetic latches, or retention by friction or permanent or semi-permanent fasteners, such as clips, common screws, and rivets, which require tools for installation and removal, and are thus more costly and time-consuming to replace.
Further, while card holders with friction retained elements are subject to loss or disarrangement through upset or vandelism, permanent or semi-permanent fasteners impair the facility for replacement of individual sign card elements, particularly in a bulletin board array with a multiplicity of sign elements, as an airport flight schedule.
The advantages of the subject invention are that it provides a positive stop for securing sign elements, yet permits easy removal without tools, is simple in construction and can be assembled by hand without special tools, and facilitates removal of flexible sign card elements.